Fans were treated to yet another MMA weekend bonanza over the past two days.
The PFL began it on Friday with an event in Charlotte, headlined by The Ultimate Fighter 29 winner area and native Bryan Battle taking on Dalton Rosta. The following night, the UFC returned to the Apex, with Mateusz Gamrot looking to keep the gate against fast-rising Quillan Salkilld.
Here are three lessons learned from the event.
Alexia Thainara notched the biggest win of her career on Saturday, outpointing former challenger Amanda Lemos over three rounds. Once again, she showcased her dominant grappling, scoring key takedowns while throwing some significant strikes here and there.
The result should propel Thainara to the media top 10 when the rankings are updated on Tuesday. That is just the beginning, however – if she keeps up this momentum, she will be one-half of a title fight sometime next year. It does not matter if the champion is Mackenzie Dern, Weili Zhang, or someone else – she will be a challenger.
PFL Charlotte so far marks the promotion’s penultimate big event. There is still Tampa next, headlined by Cris Cyborg’s retirement fight, as well as a joint title fight with Rizin and an African event, but after that, silence.
Such a lack of events is stunning, especially in the wake of the promotion announcing a merger with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). One would think that they would go all out in announcing all its events before its name disappears forever.
There are still plenty of fights that the PFL needs to book before the year ends. Dakota Ditcheva vs. Liz Carmouche is quite posibble the biggest non-UFC dream matchup in women’s MMA, and it deserves headliner status. New welterweight champion Thad Jean still has unfinished business against Shamil Musaev. Costello van Steenis and Johnny Eblen still have their title-unifying rematch on deck.
CEO John Martin and his matchmakers better enter overdrive if they want to end the year on a high…
Salkilld got the biggest win of his career this far on Saturday, running through Gamrot with a first-round rear-naked choke. Questions over whom he should fight next will abound soon, but for now, lightweight has another promising contender in its ranks.
Salkilld is deadly on the feet, as shown by three knockouts in his last four fights before Gamrot. With him showcasing smothering grappling skills for a second time in the Octagom, however, he has become even more of a problem.
Fighting skill is not the only thing that will make Salkilld big, especially in his native Australia, however, He also has a very distinctive appearance, sporting an easily recognizable mustache and an affable personality that resonates with fans tired of negativity.
The Land Down Under has been wanting another MMA star in the mold of Robert Whittaker and Alexander Volkanovski, and it may have found one.
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Next week, is the big one: UFC 330.
It boasts two title fights: Islam Makhachev and Mackenzie Dern making their first defenses against Ian Machado Garry and Gillian Robertson, respectively. The depth beneath it, however, has been the subject of much derision, especially after Erin Blanchfield vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius was postponed because of injury.
Sometimes, however, it is unheralded cards like these that end up being among MMA’s best, and this could be no exception…
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